High School

Pomperaug third at State Open swim meet BY MARK JAFFEE REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

NEW HAVEN — The Pomperaug High swim team knew it was going to be hard-pressed to top Greenwich and Fairfield Prep in the overall team standings at Saturday's State Open.

So when the Panthers' 400-yard freestyle relay, consisting of seniors Nathan Zabarsky, Thomas McNamara and Gregory Meyer and junior James Davey, took fourth place with a time of 3:13.09 in the final event, it was good enough to garner a third-place overall finish at Yale's Kiphuth Pool.

Greenwich won the title with 609.5 points, followed by the Jesuits (426.5) and the Panthers (298), who narrowly edged South-West Conference foe and fourth-place finisher Brookfield (292).

"That last race felt the best," said Davey. "That was our goal to finish third, and to accomplish that makes me very happy."

Pomperaug coach Fran Pentino agreed.

"I'm ecstatic with how the kids swam," said Pentino, who kept pacing back and forth toward the scoring sheets posted on the wall during the latter part of the meet.

Davey said the Pomperaug senior class set a high standard for the underclassmen to follow.

The quest for 2014 is simple: "We're going for No. 8." The team has won seven straight state crowns, one in Class M and six in Class L.

The Panthers' 200 free relay, consisting of Zabarsky, junior Gabriel Pasqualucci, junior Brendan McCarthy and junior Benon Boyadjian, took third (1:27.29). Davey was also the lead leg in the 200 medley relay, along with senior Curtis Xu, senior Brett Galus and junior Benon Boyadjian, which came in fourth place (1:38.87), two spots better than their qualifying seed.

Individually, Davey had the best finish locally with a third-place spot in the 100 butterfly (51.32 seconds), despite not being seeded in the championship heat.

"It was my personal-best time, so I definitely can't complain," said Davey.

"I'm ecstatic with third. I approached the race with the mind-set that I was competing against the clock and trying to push myself to the limit. Last year, I wasn't in the top six (actually, ninth, 52.71), so I'm making progress."

"I finished a little too close to the wall," said Snyder. "My dad (coach Ray Snyder III) said I was right there the whole race with the leaders until the last couple of strokes. I need to to make up for this in the backstroke. I want to leave here with a medal."

Snyder got his wish, finishing sixth in the 100 backstroke (53.15). Headed to Southern Connecticut State University, the two-time John Reardon Award for the NVL's outstadning swimmer, said he learned a lot what he will need to do in the future.

"I'll be training more and that will definitely help me with the strength in my legs for the second half of races," said Snyder.

"Today was not what I had hoped to do, but I couldn't ask for a better four years with the best teammates and the best coaches in the world (his dad, grandfather Ray Jr., Butch Savage and Al Ricard)."

Also in the backstroke, Davey was eighth (53.32) and Torrington sophomore Matthew Traub took 10th (53.50).

Traub, making his first Open appearance, was also 19th in the 200 individual medley (1:59.29) and was the lead leg in the 200 medley relay, along with junior Griffen Pelkey, junior Brad Nichols and sophomore Jack Wassik (15th, 1:41.97).

"This atmosphere is great with a lot of big names ans fast times," said Traub.

"It's going to take a lot of hard work to get back here and I'm willing to put in the time. I need to drop about second in the backstroke and about four seconds in the IM and it's possible. I was a little nervous before the IM. After my first Open races, I calmed down a little and was able to relax."

"That was Connor's best time," said Snyder III. "He has just scratched the surface on how good he can be."

"My confidence is continuing to go way up," said Newton. "I'm getting better with more and more experience."

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